DENVER – Even with back-to-back second place finishes and six straight top-three finishes in the RMAC, there's one team that Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse just hasn't been able to solve. Despite hat tricks from Carson Dickey and Taylor Jakeman, a first quarter run kept No. 3 Regis just out of reach of the Mavericks, as the Rangers won 17-11 at home against CMU.

Bailey Truex had five goals and Meg Hanson had a first quarter hat trick to lead Regis, who scored five unanswered goals in a six-and-a-half-minute span midway through the opening period to provide some cushion throughout a game that was otherwise back-and-forth. Regis outscored the Mavericks by four goals in the opening quarter, were even with the Mavs in the second quarter and outscored CMU by a goal apiece in the third and the fourth to reach the six-goal margin of victory.

In many ways, the Mavericks played well and went toe-to-toe with the nation's third-ranked team. Colorado Mesa outshot Regis 33-27, though the Rangers were able to get 22 shots on goal to CMU's 21. The Mavericks boasted a 21-11 advantage on draw controls and only committed two more turnovers than Regis.

Ultimately, the Rangers won the one-on-one matchups when they mattered the most. Regis went 5-for-10 on free position shots compared to CMU, who went 2 for 6. Regis goalkeeper Brigit Goetsch also made 10 saves in net for Regis, doubling up Shannon Murphy's total of five.

A spirited game saw 10 cards issued and seven woman-up goals, four for Regis and three for the Mavericks. Truex had a hat trick of just woman-up goals among her five total, scoring with a numbers advantage once in the first and twice in the fourth quarter.

Taylor Jakeman scored CMU's first two goals, sandwiched around the five-goal Regis run, to make it 5-2 after 20 minutes of game time. Regis continued to score, but goals within the final minute by Jakeman and Justine Anderson gave CMU a bit of momentum heading into halftime, down 9-5.

Dickey scored all three of her goals after halftime, including the first goal of the second half to make it 9-6, which would be as close as CMU would get. Dickey also scored the Mavericks' final two goals of the night. It's the second career hat trick in the career of Dickey, a freshman from Murrieta, California who now has 10 goals on the season.

The Mavericks have a day off before facing UCCS on Saturday at 1 p.m. UCCS beat Westminster 17-7 on Thursday and are tied with the Mavericks for second place in the RMAC at 3-1 behind Regis.